tracks running slow

G

gwayms

New member
Hey guys,

I am recording on my laptop hp 1.5, 40gb hard drive and just put in 1 meg ram. Using a m-audio usb interface. my problem is that i have some songs i have recorded months ago (guitar, bass, drums & vocals), the problem is now the ew track i record are draggin behind the old ones. Just a split second but they wont line up. Even just trying to play the same exact chords on the guitar, still wont line up? Just sounds a little behins the orginal.
Any ideas, suggestion etc.

Thanks
 
Are they not lining up during playback, or when you're trying to record, or both? There could be a latency issue when you're recording the new tracks that's causing your playing to be behind. How are you monitoring your real-time playing? Does the M-Audio box have direct (zero latency) hardware monitoring? It probably does (but may be software controlled).

Also, confirm what sample rate you recorded the old tracks at, and make sure you're running your new session at that rate (or convert the old tracks).
Mismatched sample rates could cause a problem when playing everything back.
 
Tracks Running Slow

I am just listening to the original tracks thru my monitors or headphones and everything sounds great while recording, but when i listen back thru the monitors the new track is a little behind. Maybe i need to check the latency and sample rates. i dont know much about that part of it, I guess i need to do some research.
But how would any of that change if I never changed it?
 
I don't know what software you are using, but when you create new sessions you have to specify sample rate and bit depth. Now I'm guessing default setup is 44.1kHz (sample rate) /16 bit (bit depth). But, if your old files were recorded at 44.1kHz for example, and you import them into a new session running at 48 kHz, and therefore you are recording your new files at 48 kHz, this could create a problem.

However, to counter myself, I would think this problem would manifest itself during the recording process as well, which you say is doing fine.

If everything really sounds okay to you during the tracking phase, it should be in time during the playback phase. Do you know if you're monitoring what you're recording live via direct zero latency monitoring, or is it post-software?

You're absolutely certain it sounds in time when over-dubbing?
 
track running slow

yeah i am sure when i record it is fine. I tried to just play single notes along with the original song, just to see if i was hearing things. and the single notes werent lined up. I am using Mixcraft as my recording software and going thru an M-Audio usb mobile pre interface. I have had this problem for a while so i bought 1 gig of ram this weekend to see if it would solve the problem but it didnt. Maybe I need to check into the latency and sample rates.
 
Have you tried just recording brand new tracks and then playing those back just as a test to see if you get the same timing issues.

Another test to try might be to import a track off of a CD that you can play along with, record a part with that, play it back, and see if it's off.

It might be an issue with those old tracks.

Just throwing out ideas.
 
djhead said:
guarantee you its the latency.
Click to expand...


I would agree, except if he's truly not having issues when he's overdubing, which is when the latency would be a problem, then it might be something else. It could be his ears are being tricked during the recording phase, and it's not really in time then, but if he says it's okay, then it probably is.
 
OK, last night i tried to record a brand new song, just a very basic guitar riff. So i could try to play along with it on another track. And the 2nd track would not line no matter what I did. I changed the latency and everything else I could, it just would line up. It is like the new track is recording slow than the original. Very frustrating.
I am using an HP pavilion 1.5 laptop, 1 meg ram, 40 gig HD, that should be enough speed/power, i have an m-audio usb mobile pre interface and am using Mixcraft as my program. I am about to buy a standalone recording station or something if i cant figure it out. It is driving me crazy.
 
I know we sort of touched on this before, but were the line up problems during Playback of both tracks? or were the line up problems occuring during the recording of the 2nd track against the 1st track?
 
The problem was when i play back, it is just playing the track a little either behind or ahead of the original track.
Even just visually, you can tell where the chords were played and even that doesnt line up.
 
So you're saying visually the wave forms don't line up together? Are you sure you have the cursor in the right place when you start recording?

If the waveforms are visually out of time, can you just nudge them into position?

Have you confirmed that the sample rate you're running your session at in the software is the same sample rate your USB interface is running at?
 
Tracks Running Slow

They dont line up visually or the sound sound doesnt line up? i dont really care about visually but when i listen back it just sounds terrible. On my m-audio interface the only option i have is for the latency, i dont have any smaple rates options.
Thanks for all the help.
 
My question is if the clips are lining up visually? If not then maybe your record cursor isn't in the right place when you start recording.

Which M-Audio interface are you using? I'm sure somewhere in the software control of the M-Audio box you can select sample rates. What sample rate are you running your session at (in the software)?
 
$ .02

ok so it sounds like we're at a pure conjecture stage here so how about.....
he's tracking with effects added and the "offset" is the added processor time before writing to the drive????? any bets??? ok next guess...
 
I think it's a couple of issues happening for you at the same time.

1. Issues with your computers processing power.
2. Issues with the M-Audio drivers.

I have seen the exact same problem recently using Sonar 5 & the M-Audio MobilePre.

For some reason, I had shifted from the WDM drivers to the other option (MMA?). I don't think I did it (band-mates, perhaps), but either way I believe it caused me this type of problem.

To clarify my situation: With the other driver option selected, my bass player could hear & play fine while recording. Once we hit stop, we could visually see that the waveform didn't line up. We listened & proved that. I know it's annoying, but you can fix it afterwards by nudging the new audio over to line up.

I have a firepod coming in 2 days, so hopefully I won't see anymore of this type of thing for a while.
 
My kid had the same problem with Magix software, I switched him to Audition and it was fine, no difference in equipment just the software. I guess the Magix software needed more power to operate without latency.
 
I actually bought Cubase SE yesterday and it seems to be working alot better. Maybe it was just the program. I appreciate all the help, now it is time to get in there and record some stuff this weekend.
 
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